For this Fourth of July holiday, I decided that I might provide a "replay" of what I posted on July 4, 2020. Let me say, though, that the image I am using today, to head up this blog posting, is quite a bit different from the image I published three years ago. At the time I wrote that earlier blog posting, the nation was still in the initial stages of its confrontation with the Covid-19 pandemic, and Donald J. Trump was our president. Here is the image from that earlier, 2020 blog posting:
The image I used then, with former Vice President Joe Biden in a mask, spoke to the moment. Mask mandates, of course, are now no longer with us, and Joe Biden is our president, now. I would suggest, however, while some things have changed, the message I published on July 4, 2020, is still very much appropriate:
oooOOOooo
An article in the July 1, 2020, edition of The New York Times reported on what The Times
called a "blistering speech" by former Vice President Joe Biden. The
following statement, quoting Biden, particularly caught my eye:
“The president talks about, you know, manhood and, you know, and being strong, and you don’t need the mask,” he said. “I think we have to start appealing to the better side of human nature by pointing out that that mask is not so much to protect me. It’s to protect other people,” he added. “And it’s called patriotism. It’s called responsibility.”
I am with Joe on the mask issue, but I want to suggest a more general point.
I think it is profoundly true to say that those who want to be
"patriotic," and who desire to pledge their allegiance to our nation,
and to its system of democratic self-government, need to make certain
that "responsibility" is at the very center of their understanding of
citizenship.
It is the American idea that "WE, the people," are in charge of our
government. Indeed, it is our idea that we ARE the government, that we
are "self-governing," and that this is what makes our country unique.
IF we are self-governing; if we are, in fact, "in charge" of our
government, that means that we must take personal responsibility for
what the government does in our name. Taking responsibility for the
government is something different from wanting to have a "responsible"
government.
When the United States government drops bombs from drone planes, killing kids, WE are dropping those bombs. WE are responsible.
When the United States government attempts to wall off it borders, and
places children in cages, WE are doing that. WE are responsible.
When the United States government plays footsie with Saudi Arabian
dictator-killers, to help sell weapons and make money for the
military-industrial complex, who do you think is actually responsible?
WE are responsible.
If our government fails to take appropriate measures to deal with a
global pandemic that puts every person in our country in danger, WE must
act.
If we come to understand that the United States government has not only tolerated but
has collaborated in a race war against Black people, extended for
hundreds of years, a war that continues even to this day, then WE are
responsible for that, and WE need to do something about it.
Etc.
Hoping for a new set of leaders, even voting to elect such a new set of
leaders, is fine. That is important, but that is only the beginning, not
the end, of our patriotic responsibility.
If we (and I mean each one of us, individually), come to believe that
actions undertaken by our government, in our name, are unconscionable
and intolerable, if we decide that opportunities that need to be pursued
are being neglected, and that challenges that must not be ignored are
being both denied and ignored, then WE, personally, must seek to do something about it.
And what does that mean? That means that we must disassociate ourselves
from other pursuits, in order to be able to spend our time trying to
make the changes that need to be made, setting aside the imperatives of
consumption, and entertainment, and other diversions until we succeed in
dealing with the problems of government that are OUR problem.
That is what "patriotism" requires. It's something to think about on the Fourth of July.
If we want truly to be patriotic, then our commitment to spend our time
on issues of self-government must prevail over our personal pursuits.
That is what "patriotism" requires.
It's called responsibility.
Image Credit:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-white-house-serves-up-burgers-nostalgia-july-fourth-2021-07-04/
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